Gro-n-sell Wants To Be `Understood'

David Eastburn, who plans a 2-acre greenhouse in a residential section of Hilltown Township, understands his neighbors' concerns about the project.

"They don't understand what we do," said Eastburn, the owner of Gro-n-Sell. "We're trying to be good neighbors. We're there to stay.

"The easiest thing to do is fight it rather than hear what's really going on," he said.

What's really going on, according to Eastburn, is the expansion of his 12-year-old agri-business from a facility constructed hodge-podge on Lower State Road in Chalfont to a new, $1.5-million site on Callowhill Road. The new building would give the company room for its expanding plug business.

Gro-n-Sell, which is housed in the same building as Eastburn's commercial greenhouse, supplies about 600 different types of seedlings and plugs to other greenhouses and municipalities. The company sends the immature plants all over the country, including Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, New Orleans and many branches of the Federal Government in Washington, D.C.

The company will not make retail sales at the Hilltown location, he said.

Eastburn said he wouldn't spend the $1.5 million to construct a modern building as well as a home for his family on the 20-acre lot if he didn't plan to maintain the property.

The township supervisors have expressed concerns about the proposal, questioning whether it could lower property values of the surrounding homes.

Earlier in the approval process, several members of the township Planning Commission said they thought the facility was either a commercial or industrial site, neither of which are allowed in residential areas in the township.

The supervisors have requested that Eastburn pave the driveways at the site to keep down dust and noise from trucks.

Gro-n-Sell asked the township to wave the requirement, saying it would cost about $45,000 to pave the area.

"We're trying to keep it low-key and they want us to blacktop," Gro-n-Sell general manager Fred Granja said. "We will do anything they require, but why create a shopping center atmosphere?"

The project still needs final approval from the supervisors.

Eastburn said the new building will allow Gro-n-Sell to expand its plug business, which he says is the future of farming.

While the company produces about 15 million plugs annually in Chalfont, the new building should allow them to grow to between 25 million and 30 million a year, he said.

Eastburn and Granja have traveled to several states, looking at similar projects and learning from other growers' mistakes.

The greenhouse will have double-insulated transparent acrylic roofing, computer-controlled temperature and watering and a rail system that moves the plants closer to the shipping bay as they get closer to maturity.

The building will be divided into three sections. The first area will contain the company's offices and some receiving space, while the middle of the building -- the majority of the space -- will contain the growing area. A smaller space at the end of the building will be used for packaging and shipping the plugs.

The increased space and flexibility of the environment in the building will allow the company to keep up with the latest in growing technology, Eastburn said.

"We're not going to invest this kind of money in the structure and then level it in five years," Eastburn said.

The building will be built in phases and could be expanded if business picks up, Gro-n-Sell officials said.

"We don't want to cover 20 acres, but we're not denying we want to get to the max up there," Granja said.

Eastburn said the company will have several trucks a week enter the property, the majority of which would be United Parcel Service and Federal Express vehicles.

The site would have about a dozen year-round employees, with several more during busy periods.